Oldland Common Halt is a railway station on the

Avon Valley Railway The Avon Valley Railway (AVR) is a standard gauge heritage railway in South Gloucestershire, England, operated by a local group, the Avon Valley Railway Company Ltd. The 3-mile (5 km) heritage line runs from Oldland Common to Avon River ...

. The station is on the same site as a previous station which was on the-then LMS Bath branch from Mangotsfield. Then, paths led down to the platforms from North Street, with one now providing access to the Bristol & Bath Railway Path. However, until 1966 there were two platforms, one for each direction of travel.

Original station

Oldland Common's first station opened on 2 December 1935 on the LMS branch line that had been originally opened by the

Midland Railway The Midland Railway (MR) was a railway company in the United Kingdom from 1844 in rail transport, 1844. The Midland was one of the largest railway companies in Britain in the early 20th century, and the largest employer in Derby, where it had ...

through this site in 1869. The station was intended to serve the growing suburban development in the area. It had platforms built of railway sleepers, and a small ticket office on the footpath that led down from the top of the cutting in which it was sited. In its last years before closure with the line on 7 March 1966, it was designated as an unstaffed halt. Due to its simple construction, it was quickly demolished and swept away after closure.

Present station

The line to the site of Oldland Common was reopened by the

on 6 March 1991. A new platform was constructed and opened on 6 December 1997. Passengers are invited to leave the train to watch the engine run round its train. In 2022, the charitable trust launched a project dubbed the ‘Oldland Common Project’, pioneered by young volunteers within the railway. This was to see the station returned to 1960s when BR Western Region controlled the line, with a chocolate and cream colour scheme. The project saw a successful crowdfunder raise £2,500 towards restoration and repainting of the lamps into their new Western guise, installation of a replica closure poster, fixing of new totem railway and construction of a replica

running in board In British English, a running in board is a large sign showing the name of the railway station on which it is found. The signs are intended to inform passengers of their location when on a train entering the station, possibly while still movi ...

. The project is currently ongoing. The station lies adjacent to the

Bristol and Bath Railway Path The Bristol and Bath Railway Path is a off-road cycleway, part of National Cycle Network NCR 4, National Cycle Route 4. It has a wide tarmacked surface, and was used for 2.4 million trips in 2007, increasing by 10% per year. It was built by ...

Services

References

External links

*
Avon Valley Railway Heritage Trust - Oldland Common stationAvon Valley Railway Website
*''Gloucestershire Railway Stations'', by Mike Oakley, Dovecote Press, 2003 Former London, Midland and Scottish Railway stations Heritage railway stations in Gloucestershire Railway stations in Great Britain opened in 1935 Railway stations in Great Britain closed in 1966 Beeching closures in England 1935 establishments in England Railway stations in Great Britain opened in 1991 {{Gloucestershire-struct-stub